Films on iPods after Hollywood studios deal

British movie fans can now rent and buy films through Apple’s iTunes music
store, after the company announced a series of deals with major Hollywood
studios.

By Claudine Beaumont

2:59PM BST 04 Jun 2008

Films produced by Paramount Pictures, Walt Disney Studios, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros, MGM, Sony Pictures and Lionsgate will be available for rental and purchase on the same day that they are released on DVD.

More than 700 films will initially be available, including I am Legend, starring Will Smith, and National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets, starring Nicolas Cage. Around 100 films will be available in high-definition format.

Customers will be able to download the films to their computers, and watch them on a PC or Mac, or transfer them to their iPod, iPhone or Apple TV set-top box.

The cost of buying a film will range from £6.99 for classic “library” titles to £10.99 for new releases. Movie rentals will start at £2.49 for library titles, and £3.49 for the latest blockbusters. High-definition versions of movies will cost £1 more in all instances.

That means British customers will pay significantly more for their movie rentals than their US counterparts. Classic movies cost $2.99 (£1.50) to rent in the US, with new releases priced at $3.99 (£2).

Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, has in the past blamed such pricing discrepancies on VAT, and the fact that doing business in the UK is “more expensive” than in the US.

Apple said that customers with broadband internet connections will be able to start watching a film within seconds of choosing to rent it, and will then have 30 days to watch their rented movie before the download expires.

Once customers have started watching a movie, they have 48 hours to complete their viewing. There is no limit to the number of times a rented film can be watched.

“iTunes movies in the UK is an extremely important development for consumers and the market as a whole - this will drive the UK movie downloads market significantly,” said Arash Amel, an analyst with Screen Digest.

“We anticipate iTunes will account for 70 per cent of the online movies market in the UK within three years.”

The announcement comes just days before Jobs is expected to unveil a new and improved iPhone. Reports suggest that the new handset could go on sale in the UK for as little as £100.